The Secret of Higher Teshuvah: The Vessels to Contain the Fire of the Evil Inclination
Lesson No. 185 | * Thursday, Parashas Vayikra, 1 Nissan 5759 - Torah Scroll Dedication at the Yeshiva
An in-depth discourse on the secret of the dawning of the Geulah (Redemption) in the sixth millennium and the purification of the tzaddik's body. Rabbi Berland explains why baalei teshuvah (those who repent) stand in a place where completely righteous people cannot stand, how sins blemish the upper worlds, and how the letters of the Torah and prayer serve as vessels to contain the fire of the evil inclination and transform it into holy fire.
The sixth millennium is divided into two halves: the first five hundred years are considered night, and afterward, the day begins to shine. Midday, the boundary line between night and day, is the sunrise of the sixth millennium. The year 5500 (the 500th year of the sixth millennium) symbolizes the beginning of the illumination, but the sun does not yet cast a shadow and waits for the full sunrise.
According to the precise calculations of the hours of day and night in the sixth millennium, we arrive at the year 5532 (1772 CE). On the 1st of Nissan 5532, our holy Rebbe, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, was born. His birth was hinted at in the holy Zohar as the time when the dawning of the Geulah (Redemption) would begin. At that time, a soul descended into the world that merited to completely strip away the physical body. The body became merely a garment for it, like a piece of fabric that has no influence whatsoever on one's thoughts.
Rebbe Nachman purified and sanctified his body until the physical form had no influence on the thoughts of his soul, and it yearned only for Hashem, may He be blessed. "What a person accomplishes in a million years, the tzaddik accomplishes in the blink of an eye, in a single second." The numerical value (gematria) of the words 'k'heref ayin' (in the blink of an eye) equals 'Rabbi Nachman ben Feiga' as well as 'Tzaddik Yesod Olam' (Tzaddik, Foundation of the World) (435). Because the tzaddik completely stripped away his physical body, his soul is infinite and accomplishes in a millisecond what would take a physical body millions of years.
The Greatness of Baalei Teshuvah
Regarding this, the holy Zohar continues and says:
"In the place where baalei teshuvah (those who repent) stand, completely righteous individuals cannot stand."
The Kotzker Rebbe said that today we are all called baalei teshuvah. Even a person who does not go out into the street and walks with his eyes closed, it is impossible that a bad thought will not enter him or that he will not stumble in some forbidden sight. Why are baalei teshuvah truly greater than completely righteous individuals?
The Zohar (page 16b) explains that the most complete and excellent teshuvah (repentance) is "Teshuvah Ila'ah" (Higher Repentance). This is a spiritual level where a person truly regrets all of his blemishes, and feels terrible and bitter about the place to which he has fallen. "If a person were to feel the pain of just one of his sins, he would let out such screams that the world would not be able to bear his roars." If he understood the significance of stumbling in a forbidden sight, his screams would reach the very heart of the heavens.
The Cosmic Destruction of Sin
The author of the "Megaleh Amukos" explains the secret of the blemish caused by a forbidden sight. After the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, the forces of impurity clothed themselves within human beings. When a person stumbles in a forbidden sight, he does not merely see a woman; rather, the forces of impurity connect at that very moment. "With every forbidden sight that a person stumbles in, at that very moment, a Jew is killed. The Samael and Lilith connect and receive permission to kill, destroy, and annihilate."
When a person performs Teshuvah Ila'ah (Higher Repentance), he believes with complete faith that every forbidden sight and bad thought of his brings destruction and ruin to the world, and he takes full responsibility for this. Our sins blemish the upper Sefiros (Divine emanations), which we rectify during the three Shabbos meals, which correspond to the Sefirah of Malchus (Chakal Tapuchin Kadishin - the Holy Apple Orchard), Atika Kadisha (the Holy Ancient One), and Zeir Anpin (the Small Face).
We must understand that we are ultimately just a piece of matter, a lump of desires. If a person surrenders to his desires, he is liable to deteriorate into the abyss, lose his family and his future, and end his life in drug dens, blurred and disconnected from reality.
The Letters of the Torah as Vessels for the Fire of the Evil Inclination
In our generation, the evil inclination burns like fire. "Once there were seventy bonfires; today, every young man walks around with a billion bonfires of fire. It is a wonder that he is alive at all and how he is not burned." But Hashem does not give a person a test that he cannot withstand.
In truth, this fire is a holy fire that descends from above. The problem is that we do not have the vessels to contain it. The letters of the Gemara and the letters of the Siddur (prayer book) are the vessels designed to contain this great fire. When a person does not study Torah and does not pray with intention, but rather skips and swallows letters, he lacks the vessels.
Hashem is a "consuming fire," and the soul is also fire. Just as fire in a home (like gas or an oven) is good and beneficial as long as it has vessels and pipes that constrict and channel it, so too is the spiritual fire. Without the letters of the Torah, the weekly Torah portion, the Chumash, and prayer—this fire spirals out of control and burns the person in his thoughts, in his heart, and in his body.
The Power of Confession
Here we return to the words of the holy Zohar, that in the place where baalei teshuvah stand, completely righteous individuals cannot stand. If a person decides to do teshuvah (repentance), confesses his sins as the Rambam ruled, and takes upon himself a true resolution for the future not to stumble again—he can stop the deterioration.
The holy Baal Shem Tov instituted that a person must confess before the tzaddik for everything he does. Through regret, Vidui (confession prayer), and resolving for the future, a person can ascend specifically from the most terrible falls, and reach levels higher than all the tzaddikim.
Part 3 of 4 — Lesson No. 185